For several reasons, Restauration quickly became my favorite restaurant when I moved to Lafayette in January 2016. It was one of the only places to offer farm-to-table cuisine, it was locally owned and, most importantly, the food was always luscious.

So, while still grieving from the loss of Restauration, I was elated when I heard downtown was getting a Pure Eatery, a small Indianapolis-based chain that serves fresh, locally sourced dishes.

Pure Eatery opened about a month ago at 221 N. Fourth St., a prime location in the downtown scene. I hadn't yet made my way there, so I was excited to check it out Wednesday evening, hoping it'd become my new favorite spot in town.

My friend Blake and I met there for dinner around 6:30 p.m. and she was quickly seated at a booth. (Unlike me, Blake never fails to be early for plans.) We could have sat outside on either the first-floor patio or second-floor deck, but I wanted to avoid the Indiana humidity.

The inside is cozy, but spacious enough with a dining area when you walk in and a bar area to the right. The first thing I noticed was the rustic-type decor and exposed brick walls decorated with paintings by Indiana artists. It has the vibe of a trendy urban restaurant, which makes sense given Pure Eatery's flagship location is in Indianapolis' most hipster neighborhood, Fountain Square.

Although the cocktail list looked enticing and very reasonably priced (only $6.95 for their version of a Moscow mule), I opted for an on-tap Sun King. Blake ordered a coffee, which we realized later never came, so she just skipped it.

For dinner, I ordered the blackened tilapia over pesto Israeli couscous, which comes with sautéed yellow squash and zucchini, and a side of the soup-of-the-day, cream of chicken and rice. Blake went for the rice bowl — white rice, steamed broccoli, baby kale, a fried egg and teriyaki and bourbon peanut sauce — with pulled pork as her protein of choice. She's not crazy for kale, though, so she substituted it for spinach.

My soup came before the meal and successfully whet my appetite. The cream of chicken and rice was loaded with shredded chicken, but not so much rice. I didn't mind, however, because the chicken was nice and juicy. The broth also had a little spice to it, which I appreciated. It was like a grown up version of chicken noodle soup, minus the noodle.

After I quickly slurped down my soup, Blake and I had to wait a while to get our entrees — not too long, but a little longer than I'd expect. When we got our meals, my tilapia wasn't very warm and the couscous and vegetables were cold. I waved over our server and she sent it back to the kitchen right away to heat it up.

In the meantime, I took a bite out of Blake's hot rice bowl and was very impressed by the shredded pork, which was moist and well-seasoned, allowing the flavor to linger on my taste buds for a minute. Her one suggestion, which I agreed with, was that the egg's yolk should've been runny so it would've soaked into the rice and blended with the other ingredients.

My dish came back to our table shortly and was nice and hot this time. The blackened tilapia was cooked well, but was slightly over-seasoned to the point that it masked the natural flavor of the fish. The spicy seasoning also covered my squash and zucchini, which I could have done without. The couscous, on the other hand, didn't have much flavor, which actually worked well because I could mix it with my seasoned fish and vegetables.

Although I didn't love my dinner choice, I still enjoyed our dining experience and will be back soon to try something new. The fact that Blake's rice bowl was so tasty gave me hope that I can find a meal at Pure Eatery that fulfills my craving for Restauration-style cuisine in downtown Lafayette.

Pure Eatery is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.